


ocean eyes

by SpicyReyes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Body Horror, Demon AU, Everybody Lives, James Potter Lives, M/M, Regulus Black Lives, and james is one, everyones wizards theres just also demons, still hp verse tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 16:03:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17348261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyReyes/pseuds/SpicyReyes
Summary: James Potter's mother was a demon, which isn't such a big deal when he keeps it suppressed and hidden away. When its the only thing that saves his life, though, and sets a path in motion for his son that he can't take back...well, that is a problem.





	ocean eyes

**Author's Note:**

> "christian you just started a drarry fic and now youre gonna-" yes shut up i know i have too many drafts iM WEAK  
> you can blame the fic 'the devils white knight' for this pairing jsyk  
> more tags will probably be added when we get to the harry parts of the story but for now lets just love our dear trashy james potter  
> this is explicit because of the excess of body horror but also because someones probably gonna get their dick out at some point so just uh. be warned  
> and i think thats it for now??? i dont have to apologize for it being a time travel fic again this time lmao  
> enjoy, nerds

A nauseating spinning feeling was the first thing he registered, followed shortly by the ringing in his ears - the sounds and force of the spell's impact against his chest, enough to incapacitate him entirely. 

James managed to raise himself from the floor slightly on shaking arms, mind scrambling to piece the events of the evening back together. 

He and Lily had been at home, just a normal day. They'd put on some muggle television show she for some reason adored and had put Harry to bed early so they could properly ignore it. 

But  _ he'd _ come. 

_ Voldemort.  _

James looked up, alarmed as he processed the threat that was still present. 

Voldemort must have assumed his spell killed James, because he wasn't looking to his end of the room anymore. Instead, he was fully focused on Lily. 

The assumption was a fair one - he should have been dead. The words and the green light had both indicated a perfectly cast killing curse, but here he was, broken and beaten but still very much alive. 

That could only mean…

His hand went to his chest in a desperate grab, feeling around beneath his shirt until-  _ there,  _ hanging off his neck, the broken and fraying end of his necklace’s leather cord. 

The repression charm was destroyed. 

As if summoned by his panic, pain began to bloom across his body, his face feeling like it was coming apart. In front of his eyes, the skin on his arms began to split, and from beneath emerged the jagged red scales of his mother’s nature. 

His hearing was slowly returning, and through the muffled sounds he thought he could make out Lily's voice. 

Lily.  _ Harry.  _ James was not dead, he could still protect them. He could still-

A blast of green scattered about the room, and a moment later, Lily's body thumped down to lie at his side. 

Voldemort didn't stop to admire his handywork. He was clearly on a mission, and James forced himself up enough to watch him approach the bassinet that held their infant son. 

He was going to kill Harry. Harry, just a baby, just a boy, just-...

...Just a  _ Potter _ . 

The blood was so thin for him, and there had been doubt it would even effect him, but James had no other options. If he was going to save his son, there was only one way to do it. 

His hand shot out across the floor, feeling around for his fallen wand, and he dragged it to his chest before pointing it at the bassinet. 

As Voldemort raised his own wand, ready for the kill, James cast his spell. 

_ “Daemonetego!” _

_ “Avada Kedavra!”  _

The green flare of the killing curse filled the room again, and for a moment, James was unable to breathe. Time seemed to slow as Voldemort turned furious eyes on him, suddenly aware of his survival, and their eyes met in a challenge from the man on the ground.

A challenge that Voldemort did not get the chance to answer, as the green cloud of magic over Harry’s bassinet was abruptly overtaken by rich crimson.

The relief that washed over James was immeasurably, followed shortly by his satisfaction as those blood red false flames stretched out, latching onto Voldemort, burning everywhere they touched.

The Dark Lord stumbled back, back, back, until he reached the window and managed to shout a garbled spell that took him out it and away.

James wasted no time. His skin was still peeling away in layers, the scales breaking free, and it was quickly moving from painful to agonizing. As bad as his pain was, though, it would be  _ nothing  _ compared to what Harry would feel, if his Awakening was allowed to proceed with him so small. He forced himself to stand on shaking legs, dragging himself to the bassinet. 

When he peeked inside, though, wand ready to cast the suppression charm, he froze at a surprising sight. 

Harry’s forehead and chest had a smattering of red scales, but as James watched, they  _ receded,  _ rather than spreading. He seemed not to be in pain, either, kicking his feet and smiling up at his father as though nothing had happened at all. 

The forced Awakening spell wasn’t meant for children, especially a  _ baby.  _ Perhaps his gamble had an unexpected response - perhaps, by forcing the Hellfire from Harry, he’d changed something fundamental about him.

Perhaps, with only a quarter of it in his blood, Harry was perfectly suited to the powers of a demon. More so than James, at least, whose human body fought his hidden form every second.

He could worry about that later, though. For now, he gathered his child - now back to fully human appearance - and took him to the only person who could help him now. 

  
  
  
  


It was not possible to apparate into Hogwarts, and even if it were, James would not try it with a baby. Floo, however, was still an option, and could take him directly to Dumbledore’s office - provided, of course, the man was in it to open his end upon request.

He was in luck. The flames flickered green shortly after the powder was tossed, showing he’d been allowed the passageway. 

He stumbled out of the other end, almost collapsing as he did. The pain made his vision swim, and he felt hands set on his shoulders, steadying him.

“Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore murmured. “Your suppression charm…”

“Broke it,” James managed to gasp out. “Attacked. Voldemort.”

Dumbledore’s grip on his arms tightened, which pressed against the scales that were trying to break free there, causing James to let out an involuntary whimper. 

He was released immediately. “Where is Lily?” Albus asked. “Is she…?”

“He killed her,” James confirmed. “Just...just us.”

Albus pulled his hands back, and to James’ relief, took the baby from his arms.

James waited just long enough for Harry to be settled again, let out a relieved sigh, and promptly passed out.

  
  
  
  


When he woke, he did so slowly, feeling like he was swimming his way back to consciousness. 

Conversation surrounded him, and he peeled his eyes open to see Dumbledore speaking with someone he couldn’t quite identify - mostly because of the fact he didn’t currently have his glasses on, so both figures were spectacularly blurry. On the bright side, he wasn’t in any pain, so someone must have re-cast his suppression charm. 

He raised one hand weakly to check, catching the attention of the other two as he confirmed that his skin was back to the rich brown of his father’s family and not the red scales passed along from his mother’s. 

“James,” the second person said, voice strangely familiar.

James squinted in response, looking to see if he could make out any more details about them. The dark blob at the top of the blur was revealed to be long black hair, but that was all he got.

To his other side, Dumbledore laughed, and footsteps echoed as he approached, coming into view a few feet from James and reaching out to pass him his glasses. “I forget, sometimes,” Dumbledore said, sounding amused, “that your vision is so limited when the suppression is active.”

James wasn’t convinced there wasn’t something even worse with his vision than usual, because he was most certainly looking at a dead man.

“Hello, Potter,” Regulus Black greeted him. 

“...You’re dead,” James informed him, just in case he hadn’t known. 

The man’s lips twitched up a bit. “Not quite.”

“Well, then, you  _ will  _ be,” James said. “A fucking Death Eater, honestly - Sirius wanted your head.”

“‘Til he had it,” Regulus countered. 

Dumbledore, apparently deciding that he’d best intervene, informed James, “Regulus has spent the past year and a half in hiding, seeking out the best method with which to destroy the horcruxes keeping Voldemort alive.” 

...There was a lot to unpack, there. For now, James settled on a weak, “Great. Any luck?”

Regulus looked a bit sour.

“That’s a no, then,” James sighed. “Where’s Harry?”

“Safe,” Dumbledore said. “The next room over, being seen to by our dear Rubeus Hagrid.”

James narrowed his eyes in a suspicious squint. “He’s a baby,” he reminded the headmaster. “Not a beast.”

“Hagrid is gentler than most,” Dumbledore replied easily. “Harry was quite happy when I left him, and I have yet to hear anything from him to suggest that has changed.”

True - Harry was a quiet baby, usually, but he could shriek like a banshee when bothered. He doubted that Hagrid would be able to do anything Harry didn’t like and get away with it, especially since he was not permitted the tools or leeway with which to cast a silencing charm. 

It still didn’t mean he had to like it, but Hagrid wasn’t terrible, and it wasn’t like James was much for watching him in his current state.

“Where are we, then?” James asked. “Still at the school?”

“No,” Regulus answered, rather than Dumbledore. “This is my house.”

James looked around, finally taking in some of the paintings around the room, stern Black ancestors sneering down at him suspiciously. 

“Grimmauld Place,” he realized. “Your mother gave it to you?”

“She gave it to me.”   
James straightened up, grinning as Sirius entered the room. “Padfoot! Here I thought I was stranded with these two.”

“You might just be,” Sirius replied. “They’re out for my blood, at the moment.”

James turned confused eyes on Dumbledore, who explained, “We projected the illusion that Sirius was your Secret-Keeper, and so the blame for your attack is being placed upon his shoulders.”

Blame?

...Oh. Voldemort had to have known where to find them. Which meant…

“Wormtail,” he realized. “Peter sold us out.”

Sirius gave a grave nod. “I’m sorry, James,” he said. “All this time, I’ve been suspicious of Remus, and I never even thought- this is my fault.” 

“No it isn’t,” James dismissed. “It’s Pettigrew’s, and when I get my hands on him, he’ll pay for it.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe it. I trusted him with my life - with all of our lives.”

...Oh, no.

“Lily,” James breathed, suddenly catching up with himself. “Oh, Lily. Sirius, she-...”

“I know,” Sirius said. “We...we retrieved her. And your things.”

But mostly her. Her  _ body,  _ because Lily was dead, and Pettigrew was closer than right behind her. 

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he startled, turning into the sympathetic face of Regulus Black. His eyes dropped down to that hand, to the arm just below it, eyes locking on the Dark Mark there.

It had morphed. Where the snake before had its teeth bared outward, this one wrapped around the width of Regulus’ arm, sinking its fangs back into its own side where it came back around. 

Strangling him. Killing itself. An irrefutable sign of his betrayal, likely to destroy any chances he may have had as a spy. 

Regulus caught him looking, and turned his arm to expose the mark to closer inspection. “I was dragged into the water by Inferi, but some merpeople must have taken offense to them, because they attacked. I managed to get to shore and to Dumbledore, and he got me somewhere safe enough to pass out. When I woke up, it was like this. I’m not sure if it means Voldemort was just being cautious, or if he really knew I wasn’t dead.”

“It doesn’t matter, now,” Sirius said. “He’s dead himself, isn’t he?”

All eyes turned to James.

He grimaced. “Not quite,” he said. “He tried to kill Harry, and I didn’t know what to do, so I-...I forced his Awakening.”

There were no shocked or outraged gasps, so he assumed they’d already figured that bit out.

“The killing curse hit him and set off a Hellfire rebound,” James said. “It hit him hard, and he fled.”

“And that didn’t kill him?” 

Regulus shook his head. “He still has horcruxes out there. It couldn’t have.”

“A demon’s curse isn’t death, either,” James added. “It’s… worse than death. A slow wasting that goes on forever. There’s not much you can do about it, either, short of an Angel’s boon, or…”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, catching his tone. “Or?”

James looked to the door, wondering how far he was from his son at the moment. All he wanted to do was hold him. 

“Or the death of the demon.”

 


End file.
